Trinity College Hosts Jack Flanagan Intervarsity Medical Schools Competition

Posted on: 14 May 2009

TCD medical students took part in the 2nd Jack Flanagan Intervarsity Medical Schools competition on April 30th last which was chaired by Professor Rose AnneKenny, head of Medical Gerontology in TCD.  The competition, named after Ireland’s first geriatrician Dr Jack Flanagan, is an intervarsity contest between the penultimate medical years of the three Dublin medical schools; Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons and University College Dublin.

Dr Jack Flanagan, Ireland’s first geriatrician, was the first Irish doctor to specialise in caring for older people and pioneered modern day geriatric medicine.  The competition, which was hosted by TCD, is sponsored by the Dublin Ageing Research Network (DARN), one of the largest physician and psychiatry based research collaboration networks in Europe.  It comprises geriatricians, neurologists, and old age psychiatrists based in all the Dublin teaching hospitals and medical schools. 

This year, five teams participated in the competition, two teams each from TCD and the Royal College of Surgeons and one team from UCD.  The students were challenged on their knowledge of the medical and psychiatric problems associated with ageing.  The competition took the form of a clinical-pathology conference where competitors were given a case to review and had 45 minutes to formulate a care plan and diagnosis for the patient.  Each team presented their findings and was questioned by a three member judging panel comprised of Dr Elaine Greene, Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry from TCD, Dr Rachael Doyle, Consultant in Geriatric Medicine from UCD, and Dr Ciaran Donegan, Consultant in Geriatric Medicine from RCSI. 

Students from the penultimate medical year of the three Dublin medical schools who competed for the Jack Flanagan Medal in Gerontology.

The Jack Flanagan Medal in Gerontology was awarded to the winning team from the Royal College of Surgeons.  The award is an academic prize presented by the Professors of Gerontology / Medicine in each University and a cash bursary of €1000.